Billy Smith

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Full Name
Billy John Smith
Born
Sunday, 12th July, 1942
Current Age
81 years and 251 days
Place Of Birth
Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia

Awards & Accolades

Harry Sunderland Medal
1966, 1967
National Rugby League Hall Of Fame
2008
NSWRL Hall Of Fame
2021

Biography

Despite playing in the centres in St George's 1963-65 grand final wins, Billy Smith became one of the most talented and tenacious halfbacks in post-war rugby league. A St George junior, Smith was graded as a centre (he made one appearance in 1961 against Manly) before cementing a place in first grade in 1963. Dragons’ captain-coach Norm Provan moved Smith to halfback the following year and the diminutive tackler with blistering pace made his debut for NSW and Australia (against France). Twice-winner of the Harry Sunderland Medal for best Australian player in an Ashes series, he tempered his brilliant skills with a dash of rashness on and off the field. Smith played Tests against France (1964), NZ (1965 and 1967) and Great Britain (1966) before touring with the 1967-68 Kangaroos. After captaining NSW in 1967, the formidable halfback played in five of the six Tests on tour and savoured victory with Australia's World Cup team the following year. A smashed jaw in 1969 saw him miss most of the season's rep matches, but in the following year he played in two Tests against Great Britain and was named vice-captain of Australia's World Cup team. Smith captained Australia in the opening match against Great Britain (an 11-4 loss) and his toughness was an integral part of Australia's subsequent win in the final. While he did not play for Australia again, his club form in the early 1970s never wavered. His partnership with Graeme Langlands after the club's last grand final success (1966) will be remembered as one of the finest the game has seen. The two champions had an intuitive knowledge of what the other was about to do, but despite their efforts St George was beaten in the 1971 and 1975 grand finals. (Smith had one late taste of success in 1972 when he returned from injury and played in the club's premiership-winning Third Grade team). Smith finished his career in reserve grade in 1977 but not before passing Norm Provan's club record for grade games (296 games). He later coached lower grades with Cronulla with some notoriety.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Playing Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
NRL 234 30 3   44 161 156 70 8 66.67% List
Tour Matches St George Dragons 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
NRL Finals 24 2 -   4 10 13 10 1 54.17% List
Craven Mild Cup 39 9 -   - 27 29 9 1 74.36% List
Tour Matches Sydney Firsts 2 - -   - - 1 1 0 50.00% List
Interstate Matches 16 1 1   - 5 13 2 1 81.25% List
Tour Matches Australia 27 5 -   3 21 20 6 1 74.07% List
Test Series 18 - -   - - 11 6 1 61.11% List
City vs Country Firsts 5 1 -   - 3 5 0 0 100.00% List
Tour Matches New South Wales Firsts 2 - -   1 2 1 0 1 50.00% List
The Ashes 7 - -   - - 4 3 0 57.14% List
World Cup 8 3 -   3 15 6 2 0 75.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1964-68, 1970 27 3 -   3 15 18 8 1 66.67% List

World Cup Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia 1964-1970 8 3 -   3 15 6 2 0 75.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Sydney Firsts 1964, 1966 2 - -   - - 1 1 0 50.00% List
NSW City Seconds 1964, 1969, 1973 3 1 -   - 3 2 1 0 66.67% List
NSW Firsts 1964-71, 1973 19 2 1   1 10 15 2 2 78.95% List
NSW City Firsts 1965-66, 1968, 1970, 1973 5 1 -   - 3 5 0 0 100.00% List
Overall1964-1973 29 4 1   1 16 23 4 2 79.31% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
St George NSWRFL 1961 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List
St George NSWRFL 1963 17 4 -   - 12 14 2 1 82.35% List
St George NSWRFL 1964 15 5 -   - 15 13 2 0 86.67% List
St George NSWRFL 1965 15 5 -   - 15 13 2 0 86.67% List
St George NSWRFL 1966 15 4 -   - 12 11 3 1 73.33% List
St George NSWRFL 1967 17 3 -   3 15 11 6 0 64.71% List
St George NSWRFL 1968 19 1 -   10 23 11 6 2 57.89% List
St George NSWRFL 1969 17 - -   2 4 11 6 0 64.71% List
St George NSWRFL 1970 19 1 -   6 15 13 6 0 68.42% List
St George NSWRFL 1971 13 3 3   7 22 8 4 1 61.54% List
St George NSWRFL 1972 11 1 -   2 5 8 2 1 72.73% List
St George NSWRFL 1973 23 2 -   8 14 13 9 1 56.52% List
St George NSWRFL 1974 17 - -   3 3 8 9 0 47.06% List
St George NSWRFL 1975 21 - -   1 1 14 6 1 66.67% List
St George NSWRFL 1976 13 1 -   2 5 6 7 0 46.15% List
St George NSWRFL 1977 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
St George 1961, 1963-77 234 30 3   44 161 156 70 8 66.67% List

Your Say

  • Anonymous
    02/04/2016

    Pound for pound, no better player than Bill.

  • Joe
    26/04/2019

    One of the great halfbacks from any era.
    Tough and resilient also a brilliant attacking player.

  • Geoff Thomas
    23/02/2023

    A wonderfully talented halfback fast, tough, resourceful, great attacker and defender.

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Contributions: Shawn Dollin, Andrew Ferguson, Greg Fiveash, Rugby League Tables, Alan Katzmann, Paul Carter, Michael Borg, Bill Bates, AJ Lucantonio